Coin-controlled vending apparatus.



Patented Sept. 26, 1899.

I a. w. SCOTT. CHIN CONTROLLED VENDING APPARATUS.

{Application am 1m. 20, 1599.

2 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

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Patented Sept. 26, I899.

(Application maxi so, 1899.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2,

(lo Nodal.)

' 9n Van/0 rn46 uoms pzrsnsmvruorammu. ww-unuwu n c UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

' BARTON w. s

oo'rT or SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR To THE GLOBE DEVELOPEMENTCOMPANY, OF SAME PLACE. I

COIN-CONTROLLED \TIENDING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 633,966, datedSeptember 26, 1899. Application filed March 20.1899. Serial nmcavvi. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, BARTON W. SCOTT, a citizen of V the United States ofAmerica, re-

siding in the city of San Jose, inthe county;

This invention has forits bject,mainly, the

ro production of a machine or apparatus for vending or distributingbooks and packages,- the operation of which is controlled by theintroduction of a coin of given valueinto the mechanism; and theinvention comprises cerx tain novel parts and combination of parts andmechanism producing an improved machine or apparatus of the characternamed, as hereinafterfnlly described, and set forth in the claims at theend of this specification. The accompanying drawings referred to thereinand forming a part thereof represent a machine embodying the saidimprovements.

Figure 1 is a front elevation having a por-'' tion of the case brokenaway to expose the 2 5 parts inside. Fig. 2 is an end elevation takenfrom the right-hand side of Fig. l with the case partly in section. Fig.3 is a front view in detail, on an enlarged scale, of the bottom frameof the racks, the traveling scraper, and the endless chain andsprocket-wheels that operate the scraper, the parts being broken awayand contractedfor the purpose of bring ing thefigure within the limitsof the sheet. Fig. is a front view in detail, on an enlarged 3 5 scale,of .the bottom part of the racks and the traveling scraper. Fig. 5 is afrontview of the coin-controlled operating mechanism. Fig. .6 is a sideview taken from the righthand side of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a sectional viewtaken in a vertical plane my, Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is aplan or top view of thestationary frame and inclined bottom plates beneath the bookholdingracks shown in Fig. 4 with the racks removed.

The principal parts or features of. this apparatus include several racksor frames within an inclosingcase, each adapted to hold a number ofsmall books in a tier or pile, a traveling scraper or device movable ina substantially horizontal path beneath and at right anglesto the pileand by that movement book sidewisc. from beneath the pile, and means formoving said device along under the several piles, so as to remove thebooks from one pile after another in regularsuccessive order'from timeto time as the apparatus is operated. r J

- Another novel part or feature consistsin mechanism of novelconstruction for actuat- 6o iug the scraper ordischarging device and acoin-controlled means for throwing the same into and out of operativecondition to withdraw a book from one of the piles as often as a coin isdeposited in the receptacle provided for it in the case.

A machine or apparatus of any desired capacity is produced by increasingor reducing the number and the height of the racks shown in the drawingsand by giving the traveling 7o scraper the required length of movementto pass under and act-upon all the piles in succession. These parts arecombined and arranged for operation in an iuclosin g caseprovided withan opening for discharging the books from each pile to the outside andwith. a coin-slit and a conductor to carry the deposited coin intothescraper-operating mechanism and a lever for operating the scraper fromthe outside of the case.

Small packages, articles, or substances of a flat shape capable of beinglaid one upon another in an even pile can bevended or distributed fromthis apparatus simply by constructing the racks of proper size tocontain 85 the articles, or packages in which they may be put up andgiving the scraping device the required length of throw.

A indicates the case iuclosing the racks and vending mechanism.

'13 is a horizontally-set frame below/the racks, having ways orguide'slots b for two endless chains or link-belts O G.

D D are two pairs of sprocket-wheels on parallel axles dd at oppositeends of. the 5 frame, around which the endless belts are laid andcarried;

. The part herein termed the scraper is composed ona'flat blade or barE, loosely attached by arms E E to the link-beltsO c at too one of thejoints 0, on which points'it i'srfree to playidp and down as it is drawnalong over the inclined bottom plates G. By vircaused to engage and drawthe lowermost.

tue of its weight and being loosely pivoted at c c the scraper restingon the bottom plates travels in contact with them as it is moved by thebelt, and being of proper length also to extend from side to side of thestationary frame between the side bars B B, so that it will run on theinclines g at the ends of the opening between one plate G and the next,the scraper runs down the surface of one plate and then up the inclineonto the next plate, sufficient clearance being provided between theinclined plates and the bottom bar H? of the rack for the turnedup edgeof the scraper to clear the bottom of the racks. The forward or leadingedge of the scraper is turned up atright angles, or nearly so, as shownin Figs. at and 8, to strike the hook or package squarely and carry itforward. Ac'ross this opening several slats or flat strips G,corresponding in number to the tiers or piles of books in the machine,are fixed between the sides of the frame at intervals apart, so as toleave between one plate and the next a slit or aperture equal at leastin length and width to the length and thickness of the book.

Over each bottom slat a rack composed of a top frame H and a bottomframe H united by upright bars or wires h h, supports the books'in aneven pile with the bottom book resting on the slat, and the slats have aslight dip or inclination transversely of the length and all in the samedirection under the racks, the inclination from the horizontal in eachslat being sufficient to give an opening of ample length and widthbetween the lower edge of one slat and the higher edge of the next slatfor the book to pass out when drawn or pressed sidewise, as beforedescribed.

The traveling scraper, moving from end toend of the frame upon the topface of the bottom slats and under the racks, operates by contactwiththe edge of the lowermost book in each pile to carry along and dischargethe book from the bottom of the pile.

In the present construction of the apparatus the scraper discharges onebook each time the operating-handle of the machine is moved, and theintervals of rest between the movements of the scraper or when it is setin motion by the handle are so regulated and determined by a coincontrolled device that only one book can be discharged and obtained fromthe machine at each operation, and it is necessary to deposit a coin asoften as a book is to be withdrawn from the machine.

The means employed to operate the scraper consist of the endlesslink-belts C 0, running over two sets of sprocket-wheels D I), as beforedescribed, to which the scraper is attached, and a hand-lever I outsidethe case, connected with the shaft d of thefcarriers D and composed, asshown in Figs. 5, 6, and 7, of a disk L, fast on the axle d, and asecond disk M, rotatable independently of the disk L and secured to ashort shaft or axle d that extends through the case to the outside andis provided with the hand-lever I. The two disks L M being normallydisconnected from each other, the sprocket-wheels cannot be operatedexcept when the two disks are locked together or caused to engage eachother, and no movement of the scraper takes place until the coin thatactuates or sets in play the looking device between the two disks isdeposited in the machine. This locking means is composed of hinged dogsN, pivoted at N to the front or inner face of the disk L, and a stopba-rP on the outer face of the other disk, standing radially outward beyondthe circumference of that disk and overhanging the rim of the adjacentdisk L,this partP being ofsuch shape and occupying a proper workingposition with relation to the edge of the disk L that the pivoted dogs Nwill pass under and clear the projection P so long as the dogs lie in aclosed position within the rim of the disk, and on the other hand theoutward throw of any one of the dogs will cause its end to strike thestop P, and thereby lock one disk to the other when the front disk isturned in the direction of the arrow 50. In the inner face of the frontdisk is a recess S with a concentric bottom edge and a pocket S at theend running toward the axis in the inner face of the disk of properdepth and width to admit a coin of the required size ordenomination andto hold it in such position when inserted flatwise that its upper edgeor rim will engage and throw out the pivoted dog with which it isbrought in contact when the disk is turned. When this takes place, thetwo disks will turn together as the lever-arm I is moved, and thelinkbelts will be drawn along through their stationary guides a greateror less distance, according to the length of stroke given to thehand-lever. The movement is governed by the two stops T T, between whichthe lever is free to move on its center, and in the present constructionthe length of stroke is sufficient to move the scraper across the top ofone inclined bottom plate by one stroke of the lever. A spiral spring Y,attached to the hub of the disk M and to afixed point on the case,throws the lever upward against the top stop T and brings the disk backto position when the hand is removed from lever. By such return movementof the disk M the coin is carried under the dog at that time restingupon it and is caused to roll on the concentric edge of the recess anddrops into deeper part of the pocket S at the end, whence it falls intoa receptacle provided in the case. A stationary coin-chute W leadingfrom the coin-slit W in the case \V to the recessS between the twodisks, conducts the coin into place and into operative position betweenthe stop P and the nearest dog lying in front of the stop.

In the present construction the length of movement required in thescraping device E is equal to one-sixth the circumference of thesprockets, and the locking disk on the sprocket-wheel shaft is providedwith six-locking-dogs, so that there is always one dog left too inproper position in front of or on the operating side of the stop P whenthe-levcr-arm returns to place after being released, while the otherdisk has but a single stop P, because its movement is an oscillating oneagreeing in extent with the movement of the hand lever.

An inclined chute W beneath the racks and extending from the rear sideforwardly to an opening W in the front of the case receives anddischarges the books to the outside as often as they drop through theopenings in the inclined slats.

Having thus fully described myinvention,

what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- I 1. Acoin-contr0lled vending and distrib uting apparatus for books andpackages, including a plurality of book-holding racks at intervals apartin a row, stationary guideframe beneath said racks, laterally-inclinedrack-bottoms separated from one another by outlet-slits, endlesstraveling belts adapted to travel in the same direction through theframe, a scraping device attached to and carried by the belts so as topass over one inclinedbottom after anotherin succession, andcoin-controlled means for imparting intermittently-progressive movementof the scraping device over the whole set of inclined bottoms todischarge a book from the series of piles in regular successive order,consisting of sprocket-wheels,a rotatable disk fast on the axle of thesprocket-wheels, a loose rotatable disk in close relation to thefirst-mentioned disk, a handle for rotating thelastnamed disk, and meansacted on by a coin introduced between said disks to lock the sametogether and thereby give motion to one disk by the movement imparted tothe other disk.

2. In a coin-controlled vending apparatus the combination, with a rackhaving a laterally-inclined bottom adapted to support the contents ofthe rack in a pile and a discharge aperture along the lower edge of thesaid bottom; of a traveling scraper movable in the same direction overthe inclined bottom and adapted to engage and discharge from the saidbottom through the aperture the lowermost article in the pile, and,coin-controlled means for moving the scraper intermittently in the samedirection, comprising the linkbelts to which the scraper is attached,

sprocket-wheels, a rotatable disk fast on the axle of thesprocket-wheels, a loose disk having an operating-handle, andcoin-controlled means locking said disks together by the in= sertion ofa coin, substantially as described,

3. The combination of the rotatable disk fast on a shaft tobe rotated,dogs on the face of the disk normally held within the circum= ference ofthe rim but movable outward beyond the rim, a second disk mounted forrotative movement on a separate axle, and carrying a stop projectingover the rim of the first-mentioned disk and the path by the dogsthereon and adapted to lock one disk to the other by the outwardmo'vement'of a dog, one of said disks having a recess for inserting acoin between the disks, said recess by its shape and location beingadapted to bring the inserted coin into engagement with a dog, and

meansforgiving rotative movement-to the coin-receiving disk,foroperation as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand andseal.

BARTON w SCOTT. [n s] Witnesses: I

E. E. Games, W. ALLEN Horn.

